Six non-euro countries join 'pact for the euro'

The president of the European Council says six non-euro countries have decided to join an agreement by eurozone leaders to make their economies more competitive.
Herman Van Rompuy said in a Twitter message that Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Romania, Malta and Cyprus will join the so-called ``pact for the euro.' As part of the pact, leaders commit their countries to hit annual benchmarks on aligning salaries with actual increases in productivity and getting rid of early retirement ages.
The pact was originally designed for the 17 countries that use the euro, since the common currency makes their economies very dependent on each other. However, non-euro countries were invited to join.